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Coffee shops in Memphis, TN

Every shop here is open and doing something right, so treat it like a coffee crawl through Memphis, in person or virtually: study how each bar is laid out, read the menu, and get a feel for the brand from their own site. Shops that roast their own beans are marked.

Coffee shops & roasters

Crawl these cafes and roasters for bar layout, menu, and brand ideas.

Memphis market snapshot

The customer base behind the coffee scene — who lives here, what they earn, and how many coffee shops already serve them. Use it to size up demand before you commit.

Population618,980
Median household income$51,736
Median age34.2 yrs
Bachelor's degree or higher28.0%Adults 25+
Unemployment8.3%
Avg. commute21.1 min
Coffee shops per 100k3.220 in our directory

Memphis has 3.2 coffee shops per 100k residents. That's below the directory median of 6.3 — a relatively underserved market with room to add a shop.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates (via Census Reporter), 2024 release. Coffee-shop density is ShopLaunch directory data. Figures describe the Census place (Memphis, TN); college, airport, industry, and other signals are coming in a later pass.

Similar coffee markets

Cities whose demographics most resemble Memphis, ranked by an objective match across population, income, age, education, unemployment, commute, and coffee-shop density. A close model for what might work here.

Permits

Permits in Memphis

Most coffee shops, carts, and trailers in Memphis fall under Shelby County, where the Shelby County Health Department, Environmental Health and Food Safety Program issues the food and mobile-vending permits you need to open. The county guide lays out the exact permits, offices, and fees in the order to tackle them.

Shelby County permit guideAll Tennessee permit counties

Planning your own bar?

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